The Black Death Plague

The Black Death plague, also known as the Bubonic plague, attacked Europe in 1347. The Bubonic plague was one of the many pestilences that would attack almost the entire Eastern Hemisphere. The last plague attacked a European city, Marseilles in 1722. On 1347, the name âBlack Deathâ, or the âBubonic Plagueâ was not used. During that time, they called the plague the Pestilence, or the Great Mortality. As we can see, the Black Death Plague has been in existence for about 650 years, and many are still unsure of the origin of this deadly plague.

There are several explanations on the origins of the Black Death Plague. The first is from medieval writers who believe that it began in China because they considered China to be a land of magical events. Others thought that it originated from earthquakes and fire. However we all know that these explanations are just myths. But many historians agree that the deadly disease originated from infected rodents that migrated from the Middle East to the area between the Black and Caspian seas. The plague was then spread onto merchants traveling the west trade routes (the approximate date given is about 1347). Then the disease passed from the merchants to Italian towns along the Black Sea. The âBlack Deathâ plague moved quickly along other trade routes. However, through quarantine, parts of Europe were saved from the disease.

During the 14th and 15th centuries, the Black Death plague was not as bad as the first time it appeared. Doctors and investigators began to notice patterns on when the plague was the most active and when it was âdormantâ. They found out that the plague was strongest in the summer, absent in the winter. Investigators also noticed that the plague was most popular among the poorest, crowded cities. Therefore the governments set up a system of quarantining and treating people that were infected.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

...﻿Ashley Ahle
Professor Hunter
Freshman English II
29 May 2014
The BlackDeath
In Barbara Tuchman’s work titled “This is the End of the World: The BlackDeath”, she describes the devastating impact the bubonic plague had on mid-fourteenth century society, economy, and religion. The bubonic plague was a vicious fast spreading terminal disease for which there was no known prevention or cure. The author graphically describes the symptoms of the plague, the most characteristic being the foul odor, severe pain and necrotic swollen lymph nodes (1). Contracted either by contact or airborne transmission, once acquired the victim would die within a very short time period (1).
Tuchman depicts how the bubonic plague ravaged entire towns and countries all across Asia and Europe. Populations became so diminished that the living were unable to keep up with the remains of the victims. At one point Pope Clement VI of Avignon had reported that over 23 million people had perished from this disease (2). An accurate death toll could never possibly be calculated, however, it is said that “a third of the world died” (3).
Tuchman is able to accurately portray the profound psychological effects caused by the plague. This disease seemed to bring out the worst in human nature. Death became such a common occurrence that the disposal of...

...progresses made such as many new inventions and art and literate was at a peak. With these very important improvements of the late middle ages there was a problem that nothing could be compared to, the blackdeath. During this time period the BlackDeath was a major factor in Europe from when it swept threw from 1300 to 1450. Many people said it was the end of the world because of the plague&#8217;s effects on the European people and Europe in general.
The plague was brought to Europe by cargo from China. In this cargo there were rats that had flea&#8217;s on them that carried this plague, and this little flea&#8217;s caused one of the most devastating epidemics in the history of the world. The people of Europe were already in bad times before the plague due to economic depression and agricultural expansion had reached its limits. Then in 1347 the plague struck, once infected by the plague a person would develop enormous swelling in there groin or armpits, black spots would appear on there legs, then diarrhea would occur and the victim would die between the third and fifth day. The plague was not only transmitted by the flea&#8217;s, the plague was also transmitted by air and if a person was infected that way he would cough up blood and then die within 3 days. By the end of the...

...﻿
The BlackPlague spread very quickly from overseas with fleas on rats, to infecting people in the late 1300s. It spread so rapidly that it killed almost two-thirds of the population of Europe in five years ("Renaissance and Reformation." Teacher Notes ). Although there were many deaths, the influence on others came off in a twist. Maybe this triggered the start of something new. The joy and outlook of people suddenly changed and started focusing on art and music. What caused all of this? Death? Humanism? Individualism? The European world began to change, not in a negative way, but started focusing on the inner walls of people’s love and passion for art.
It all starts from something as minor as fleas on rats, which affected many countries’ entire population. The Bubonic Plague was believed to have originated in the late 1340’s in Southeast Asia and was brought back to China and Russia when the Mongol tribes invaded Southeast Asia (“Bubonic Plague, the BlackDeath”). Mongolian tribes would travel with their plague victims down the Silk Road which was a very vital trade route ("Renaissance and Reformation." Teacher Notes). The plague started to diffuse due to travel and this created a wide spread pandemic and affected countries all over the world. Soon enough, Spain, Greece, Italy, France, Northern Africa,...

...Important Facts about the BlackDeath
* Interesting information and important facts and history of the disease:
* Key Dates relating to the event: This terrible plague started in Europe in 1328 and lasted until 1351 although there were outbreaks for the next sixty years
* Why was the disease called the BlackDeath? The disease was called the BlackDeath because one of the symptoms produced a blackening of the skin around the swellings. or buboes. The buboes were red at first, but later turned a dark purple, or black. When a victim's blood was let the blood that exuded was black, thick and vile smelling with a greenish scum mixed in it.
* How the disease was spread: The BlackDeath was spread by fleas that were carried by rats or other small rodents
* The spread of the BlackDeath followed all of the Trade Routes to every country
* The BlackDeath of the Middle Ages was believed to have originated in the Gobi Desert
* Key People relating to the event: Nearly one third of the population of died - about 200 million people in Europe
* The 1328 outbreak in China caused the population to drop from 125 million to 90 million in just fifty years
* 7500 victims of the disease were dying every day
* The Black...

...The BlackDeath
What was it?
The blackdeath was a medieval pandemic that swept through Europe from China and was deadly and highly contagious. By the end of the outbreaks in Europe, a little more than a third of their population(25 million people) was wiped out by the plague.
What Caused It?
The Xenopsylla cheopis flea. These fleas carried a germ that was deadly to the rats and humans. The fleas would attach themselves to the backs of rats and infect them with the BlackDeath. The fleas bit into their victims literally injecting them with the disease. Death could be very quick for the weaker victims, such as the rats. When the rats would die, the fleas would have to find a new host to live off of, which could also be humans, so this is how the disease started in humans.
There were 3 different forms of the plague:
1.) The Bubonic Plague: (the most common) derives its name from the swellings, or buboes, that appeared on a victim's lymph nodes which are located in the neck, armpits or groin. These tumors could range in size from that of an egg to that of an apple.
2.) The Pneumonic Plague: attacked the respiratory system and was spread by merely breathing in the airborne droplets(exhaled air) of an infected person. It was the most deadly of the 3 variations.
3.) Septicemic...

...could kill almost 20 million people in Western Europe. The Bubonic, or “BlackPlague”, began in China in 1334. The bacillus, Yersinia pestis, existed in all forms of the plague and caused it. The disease was carried in the bellies of fleas that attached to rats. The BlackDeath subsided in the Russian Steppe in 1351. Bad hygienic conditions in Europe helped the epidemic spread. European lifestyle also changed greatly during and after the disease. As the BlackPlague spread rapidly through Western Europe, people tried a variety of techniques to protect themselves as the legacy of the epidemic changed their lives forever.
The BlackDeath began in 1334 in China, but quickly spread to Europe. The disease rapidly spread to the coast of the Black Sea in 1346. In October of 1347, the plague hit Europe at the Port of Messina, Sicily. Three months later, the deadly disease reached southern Italy, southern Europe, Constantinople, and Alexandria, Egypt. In the January of 1348, the epidemic swept through Marseilles, France and in the spring, of the same year, arrived in Cairo, Egypt. It then went onto the Middle East, Palestine, the Arabian Peninsula, and London in September of 1348. Florence, Italy had two doses of the plague, the first in 1347, and the second in the spring of 1348. Between the years 1349 and 1350 the...

...The BlackDeath: Bubonic Plague
Perhaps no epidemic has affected the human race like the Bubonic Plague. During the late 1330's the Bubonic Plague, often referred to as the BlackDeath, rose from the Gobi Desert. From this region between Northern China and Mongolia, the pandemic spread east to Europe. The next five years would change the entire landscape of the once thriving medieval society, leaving the few survivors empty and pleading for a solution.
The Bubonic Plague originated in Asia and was carried to Europe by way of westbound trade routes. Before the plague moved west bound, it struck the warriors of Khan wiping them out but as they began to decamp from their position, Janibeg khan catapulted the infested corpses over the walls hoping to hit enemy lines with the devastating disease. Unknown to man at the time, this ultimate cause of this disease was a bacterium called Bacillus. The bacillus bacteria first infected fleas, which with time obstructed the digestive tract of the flea, causing it to starve. In a frantic fight to survive, the flea would try to feed off of rodents and mammals. These infected rodent and human carriers would then travel across the two continents, bringing with it a disease that would soon kill millions. Once arrived in Europe, poor sanitation allowed the Bubonic Plague to run through towns...

...Rachel Horton
Dr. Doran
GEOL 1101 TR 9:30
29 October 2009
The BlackDeath
The BlackDeath, also known as the Bubonic Plague, was one of the most serious natural disasters in the history of the world. The plague ran rampant and swept over Europe from 1347 A.D. to 1350 A.D. At least one third of Europe’s population was wiped out. In Medieval England alone, 1.5 million people out of four million people died between 1347A.D. and 1350 A.D. The BlackDeath took over all of Europe, killing millions of people and destroying many others’ lives. The BlackPlague was the greatest devastation in the world and will forever be remembered as the most disturbing natural catastrophe against humanity.
It is believed that the plague’s deadly path of destruction originated in Asia in the early 1300’s, then traveled west with Mongol armies and traders, arriving on the shores of Sicily in 1347. The plague was carried on Italian ships fleeing from hostile Tartar armies invading Caffa (now known as Feodosiya), an Italian trading colony on the Black Sea. Other traders from Sicily most likely transported the plague to Spain and other Mediterranean countries along medieval trade routes, eventually reaching much of Europe. The deadly disease reached the coastal town of Weymouth, England, in the summer of...